Monument Type(s):

• MANOR HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• MOATED SITE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

A moated site of medieval date, a moat of medieval date, a manor house of medieval date.

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA4694 - 1994 Newport field observation by Central Marches Historic Towns Survey
• ESA5220 - 2002-2003 WB on redevelopment of the Travis Perkins yard, Upper Bar, Newport
• ESA814 - 1975 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA815 - 1981 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA7596 - 2015 WB at Newport Cottage Hospital, Upper Bar, Newport by Nigel Baker

Description

Traditional site of manor house. At Upper Bar is a fragment of a square and broad moat. A moat, nearly square, forming by measurement an area of 60 sq yds. Two sides have been filled with rubbish. Probably the site of the Manor House described in 1471 as so ruinous as to be worth nothing. No trace remains..Its site is occupied by a modern housing estate and gardens. M Watson FI 1981 <2>

Shown on the 1881 map of Newport <3>

Nothing is known about the occupants of the moated site. It could have predated the town or, perhaps more likely, been the manor house of the Audleys, who were granted the manor in 1227. In 1421 the manor house was ruinous <4>

CMHTS Comment: Faint traces of the moat were traceable in the grounds of the cottage hospital during fieldwork in 1994 <5>

CMHTS Report <6>

A watching-brief was undertaken on a small development at Newport Cottage Hospital in July 2015, on the site of the Upper bar moated site. Excavation of strip-footing trenches disclosed a silt deposit that may relate to the very edge of the infilled moat, or may have been redeposited from it, though there was no sign of a cut feature. A cluster of red sandstone rubble seen in section may represent a much-disturbed wall footing. One sherd of medieval pottery was recovered. Natural sand was encountered at a depth of 0.9m. <7>

Newspaper article from the Newport & Market Drayton Advertiser, c.1900, forwarded to the HER by Newport History Society. Mr Thomas W Picken, a local historian, reports that no features were identified during the construction of two dwellings on this site. However, two pieces of red sandstone were recovered (at a depth of about 3 feet) which were thought to be related to gateposts. Article quotes Mr E Jones, the author of the Historical Records of Newport, who considered this site to be the site of the manor house referred to in the 15th century [as per <1>] and which recorded earthwork traces of the moat. <8>

A transcription of notes in the Picken Papers, dating to c.1897, (held by Newport History Society) was forwarded to the HER by Newport History Society. This relates to research regarding the manor house and water supply to the moat. <9>

In 1880 a dry moat, square in plan, which surrounded a vacant plot at the southern end of the town, adjoining the west side of the main street, was said to be the traditional site of the manor house. The moat was filled in when houses were built on the site c. 1895. <10>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.